CHAPTER XIX.
IN WHICH PHIL FINDS HIMSELF A PRISONER IN THE GAMBLERS' ROOM.
I was not suspicious; I had no idea that any one intended to wrongme. I was even willing to believe that Morgan Blair was sincere, andreally thought that I ought to advance him money from the estate of hisuncle, even before he had proved his claim. After all, it is pleasantto believe that no one intends to injure you; it is even better to beoccasionally deceived than to be always suspicious.
I went up the stairs in the house to which the note from Mr. Lamar hadgiven me the address without a suspicion that anything was, or couldbe, wrong. I had never before seen the handwriting of my correspondent,and had no reason to suppose that the note was a fraud upon me. ThoughI had had a sharp experience of the villany of men since I came from myhome in the wilderness, I was still a child in the ways of the greatworld.
I entered the room to which I had been conducted by the man in a whitejacket, and the door was instantly closed behind me and locked. Theapartment was an attic chamber, on the fourth floor of the house, andcontained the ordinary furniture of a bedroom. Mr. Leonidas Lynchpinne,otherwise Lynch, sat in a rocking-chair, smoking a cigar. Blair hadslipped in behind me when I entered in order to secure the door; andhaving done this, he took a chair near the blackleg. On a small table,over which hung the gas-light, was a silver box, such as I had seenin the hands of Redwood at Leavenworth. It contained a pack of cards,and another lay upon the table. There was also a dice-box, and someother gambling implements, of which I do not even know the names. Iconcluded, from the position of the parties and the articles on thetable between them, that Lynch had been giving the young man a lessonin the art of winning money.
"How are you, Phil Farringford?" said Lynch, with a sort of triumphantsmile, which indicated the pleasure he felt at the success of his trick.
"How are you, Mr. Leonidas Lynchpinne?" I replied, cheerfully; forI felt it to be my duty to demonstrate that I was not alarmed at mysituation.
The demonstration was not a feint, either. I felt an utter contemptfor Lynch, and, now that I realized his rascality, for Morgan Blair.I had fought the savage Indians in the forest, which had developed mycourage, if nothing more. I glanced around the room, and saw at thegrate an iron poker, with which I thought I might neutralize the oddsagainst me, in case the interview resulted in anything more dangerousto life and health than mere words. The letter, in its postscript,as though it had been an afterthought, requested me to bring Mr.Gracewood's note. Blair had asked me to give it up to him. I wasinclined to think that the parties before me wanted this note, thoughI could not imagine what earthly use it could be to them.
"You need not call me by that name any longer," added Lynch, bitinghis lip, and evidently vexed to find that I was not intimidated by mysituation.
"As you gave me the name of Leonidas Lynchpinne, I shall consult my owninclination, rather than yours, in the use of it."
"You will change your tune before you are an hour older, Phil."
"If I do I shall take the pitch from you."
"You are here at my summons, my lad."
"I see now that I am; brought here by a lie and a swindle, which seembe your stock in trade."
"Don't be impudent, Phil."
"If you speak to me like a gentleman, I will answer you in the sameway. You need not put on airs."
"I have business with you, Phil."
"I have no business with you; and I respectfully decline havinganything whatever to do with you."
"Your declination is not accepted. I want to tell you that I neverforget a friend or forgive an enemy."
"I have fought Indians before, and though I don't like the business, Ican do it again."
"Do you call that talking like a gentleman, Phil?"
"No gentleman ever utters an Indian sentiment."
"You are in my power, Phil, and you had better come down from that highhorse."
"I'm not in your power, and never shall be till I become a thief, ablackleg, and a swindler," I replied, calmly, as I glanced at MorganBlair, who, I thought, was completely in his power.
"What!" exclaimed Lynch, springing to his feet, his face red with anger.
I fell back two or three steps, and quietly took up the poker, whichrested against the bracket at the side of the grate.
"What are you going to do with that?" demanded he.
"That will depend upon circumstances."
"Drop that poker!"
"For the present I shall regard this poker as a part of myself; and Ihope you will so regard it."
"You impudent puppy!"
"Foul words are cheap, defiling only him who utters them," I added,quoting a sentence from the instructions of Mr. Gracewood.
"I'm not to be trifled with, Phil," said Lynch, taking a smallDerringer pistol from his pocket.
"That's just my case," I answered, elevating the poker.
"Look here, Lynch," interrupted Morgan Blair, rising from his chairin evident alarm, "if you are going to use pistols and such things, Iwon't have anything to do with the scrape."
"Shut up, Blair!" replied Lynch.
"I won't!"
"You are a fool!" exclaimed the older villain, dropping into hisrocking-chair with an expression of utter disgust upon his face.
I felt that I was fighting my battle very well indeed, and I wasencouraged in the course I had chosen.
"I don't want any shooting where I am," said Blair. "I'm willing tolick him within an inch of his life, if he don't play fair, but Idon't want him shot."
PHIL DEFIES LYNCH. Page 224.]
"I don't intend to shoot him, unless he attacks me with that poker. Iwant to show him that two can play at his game," added Lynch. "Will youdrop that poker, Phil?"
"I will not."
"If you undertake to use it, I want you to understand that pistol ballstravel faster than pokers."
"Very true; and if you are satisfied with your pistol, I am with mypoker. I am ready to end this meeting at any time."
"I am not ready to end it. I have business with you. I don't forgive anenemy."
"I do, when he deserves to be forgiven."
"None of your cant! I'm not going to a prayer-meeting with you now."
"It would do you good to go to one; and I know of no one who needs togo any more than you."
"If you can hold your tongue long enough, we will proceed to business,Phil."
"I have no business to proceed to; and I'm going to speak as I feelinclined," I replied, resting the poker in a chair near me.
"I have business with you, if you have not with me. As I told you, Inever forgive an enemy."
"As I told you before, that is an Indian sentiment."
"Will you hold your tongue?"
"No, sir, I will not."
"You knocked me down in the street, and took my money from me."
"At your request I took it; and you were kind enough to pay me thebalance in my favor when we parted at the police station," I replied.
"You must give me back that money, Phil."
"Not if I know it. Let me remind you that the money belonged to me, andthat I did not charge you any interest upon it for the time you had it."
"The money wasn't yours. It belonged to Matt Rockwood. You stole it;and I intended to get all I could for my friend here, Morgan Blair, towhom all of it belongs."
"You and your friend seem to understand each other very well, exceptso far as the pistol is concerned."
"I act for him. He is a young fellow, and don't know much about theways of the world."
"He appears to be learning very rapidly."
"He is the rightful heir of the man up the river, whose money you have.I expect you to give it up to him."
"And I expect to do so myself, just as soon as he proves the claim.Though I think I have a better right to the money than he has, I willgive it up whenever he satisfies me that he is the nephew of MattRockwood. If this is your business with me, you can't get ahead anyfarther with it to-night."
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"Have you the note with you--the note of Mr.--What's his name?"
"Mr. Gracewood," added Blair.
"I respectfully decline to answer," I replied.
"But you must give it up before you leave this house."
"Then I shall stay here longer than you will want to board me."
"I don't intend to board you," sneered Lynch. "You will neither eat nordrink till you give up this note, and the hundred dollars you got outof me at the police station."
"So far as the money is concerned, I spent a part of it, and the rest Ileft at my boarding-house."
"You can give me an order on your landlady for what you have left, andBlair will go and get it."
"I will not give him that trouble."
"You prefer to stay here--do you?"
"I do; this isn't a bad place to stay, and I can stand it here a while."
"Consider well your situation, Phil. This is my room. I board here whenI am in town, and--"
"It's good enough for me, if it is for you."
"It is a gambling-house, and the people who live here are my friends. Ican bring in half a dozen men to help me."
"Bring them in," I replied, laughing, though I confess that I was notvery much amused.
"It's no joke."
"It will not be for you when you are done with it. When my fathermisses me, he will be very likely to send for our friends, Mr. Lamarand Mr. Gray."
"In a word, Phil, will you give me that note."
"In a word, I will not; and in another word, I will fight just as longas I have a breath in my body, if you or anybody else attempts tomeddle with me."
"Phil, you go to prayer-meetings, and claim to be honest," continuedLynch, changing his tone when he found that he did not terrify me.
"I do go to prayer-meetings when I can, and I try to be honest."
"I hope you will keep on trying. By the merest accident Blair stumbledupon you, and turns out to be the heir of the man whose money you have.He is the last of the Rockwoods. Do you think it is honest to keep himout of his money?"
"I'm not so sure now that he stumbled upon me."
"Didn't he ask you something about the upper Missouri, and tell you hehad an uncle there? and didn't he tell you the name of his uncle beforeyou had mentioned it?"
"He certainly did; but since I have found out what company he keeps, Ibegin to think you posted him up, and sent him to stumble upon me."
"That's absurd."
"Not at all. Didn't you hear me tell the whole story in the policestation, Mr. Leonidas Lynchpinne?"
"I never saw him till after that," replied Lynch, angrily, as he pickedup the pistol, which he had laid upon the table. "It is useless toreason with you. Come, Blair, we will leave him here to think about ittill morning."
The villain moved towards the door, pointing his pistol at me. It wascapped, and I supposed it was loaded. Blair unlocked the door, andretreated into the entry. Lynch followed his example, and as it waspossible that he might fire at me, I did not deem it prudent to be theaggressor. I heard the door locked upon me.